A Brief History of Dust and Firearms
by Red The Ranter
Summary: A short report on the history of firearms on Remnant by the head of R&D for the Schnee Dust Company.
1. Chapter 1

Dust is widely known as a- no the energy propellant that is used in almost everything. From weapons, to heating, to technology it has the widest range of applications out of any element on Remnant. The most well known application or at least the first one people typically think off is weapons and various forms of ammunition. So this report is designed to detail the inner workings of the cartridges used in most firearms on Remnant with a few exception.

First we must ask ourselves an important question, what IS dust? Long before it had been implemented a multitude of technologies and daily applications it was mostly referred to as "Nature's Wrath". An apt name, seeing how those who could wield this element in its raw form could perform feats such as bringing down lightning bolts with ease, or to a less planned out approach, one untrained could accidentally scorch entire forests. And while even refined dust is extremely volatile, and sometimes the volatility is even increased so it would be more reactive. Unrefined dust can be so much more dangerous because of the fact it is in itself, innately volatile and has not been cleaned or refined in any way to make it safer or easier to use.

This fact is why the majority of products use refined dust, typically from the Schnee Dust Company who have strict specifications pertaining to the refinement process, while other companies are available they are generally cheaper, and as a result have less expense put into the testing and refinement of their dust. Now, we circle around towards the true point of this report. "How is dust used in projectile weapons?"

First we must look at the most primitive example of dust being used as a sort of projectile, a sort of 'Element Thrower' as the results would vary depending on what type of dust had been ground up and poured down the barrel. These types of weapons were fairly simple. Mostly made of wood covered in some sort of coating to prevent it from catching fire, they mainly consisted of a tube, closed at the back, with a small hole for a match to be placed into near the back. The dust was poured down the tube and a match was placed into the small opening.

Due to dusts innately volatile nature the force of the match igniting a single grain of it would force a vast majority of the dust out of the tube as it was igniting, the effect dependent on the type of dust. Arcing lightning if Electricity had been used, a gout of flames if Burn had been used and so on and so forth.

The first step towards projectile weapons was when somebody poured the green Wind dust down the tube and packed a pebble tightly within it at the end before lighting the match. The sheer force of the dust going off would propel the pebble about a hundred yards. And thus the first true firearm was born.

The relative set up for projectile weapons largely remained unchanged until the introduction of manufactured ammunition. Small steel balls that would always fit the barrel and be more effective than the unreliable pebble. Around this time period "Dust Ammunition" came into existence. The small steel balls were hollowed out by some means, and a small hole would be drilled into it for dust to be poured ammunition could burst into flames upon impact, or deliver a crippling shock.

However, the majority of weapons could only fire one shot before having to be reloaded, unless they had more than one barrel. Therefore most firearms also functioned as swords and axes, occasionally even shields, a trend that continued long after it was necessary as evident by the weapons Hunters use today.

However now we have the majority of things in place, it almost matches up with modern technology, save one small thing. Self contained cartridges. Without the need to pour dust down the barrel ahead of the ammunition. This technology came to be from the continent in Solitas, where, even today is at the forefront of most technologies related to dust seeing it is where the kingdom of Atlas is situated.

The self contained cartridges typically consisted of a metal alloy, with a slug in the front that could still be hollowed out and filled with dust for ammunition with a multitude of effects. And a small area in the back to propel said slug, full of Wind dust offering the most clean firing available. The pin would strike a primer, igniting the dust, sending the slug flying out of the barrel. The only issue was accuracy. The sheer force behind the bullets had no true path keeping them straight. Therefore rifling was added to barrels a few decades after, forcing the bullets into an extremely tight spiral keeping them fixated on a straight path as they flew.

And with self contained ammunition, weapons capable of both rapid fire and holding vast amounts of ammo soon followed. The technology keeps advancing, and we may not yet be at the end of the chain, but I can assure you that as technology will improve, as will the defenses of all the kingdoms, lest they fall to the Grimm.

-Jefferson Tanner, Head of R&D for SDC


	2. Chapter 2

In the last document I had put together, I discussed the uses of various types of dust in firearms. And how vital this resource was to the development of firearms. Now something has piqued my interest, and relatively few things do that nowadays. It has occurred to me there are nearly no documents inside the Schnee Dust Company recording slightly unorthodox uses of dust.

And at the expense of a little nudging in the direction of the company owner I have received some time to compile my own report to add to the archives. First I decided to scour the museum in Mantle as most of the valuables have not been moved to Atlas along with most assets of the kingdom. And I found a manuscript. The Shirrán Manuscript in particular. This manuscript detailed dust usage in villages and tribes long predating the invention of the firearm. Many tactics and uses I myself had never even imagined.

The first few lines in the manuscript were what caught my eye as I read it. It reads as so;

'And so with forearms painted as red as blood, now capable of awakening fire, this man's soul would flicker and so forth the flames would flood, for so long as his soul did not tire.'

And looking at a few paintings from the time period and area Shirrán was known to be in, somewhere between present day Vacuo and Vale, hugging the mountains that stretch across that section of Sanas. Quite a few contained images of a man with fire cloaking his forearms. And a rather large amount from what was found showed the man doing rather heroic acts such as defending villages from Grimm and starting fires for those stuck in the cold. Now whether or not this man existed is debatable. But how he accomplished "awakening fire" was something with a little more documentation.

The line about the man's arms being painted as red as blood is referring to war paint. And although it was uncommon, it wasn't unheard of for some with a strong Aura to mix dust in with the paint. They could activate it with their Aura and cause the effect of the dust to ripple across the paint. The warpaint itself being based in resins and saps and other rather viscous substances offered almost a membrane of sorts to protect the user's skin from the effects of the dust. Because old dust infused war paint was applied in a two layer system. First the more viscous layer was applied as a protective layer. And secondly the layer that had dust mixed in.

Now the reasoning for how it was activated through another layer was originally chalked up to those having the strongest souls. Which wasn't entirely incorrect, but at the same time isn't correct either. The only real requirement was that whoever was attempting to use the warpaint had their Aura previously "unlocked", as Aura is an extension is one's soul and can protect someone, it is almost like a field that envelops the body allowing focus to activate the dust even if it is on a layer further from the skin. War paint isn't used for such things anymore but there is a similar substance used in modern society.

It is a sort of paste that dries quickly that contains electrical dust in the mixture. It is primarily used to fix electronics where there is a small gap in the wiring as it would allow electricity to flow once more. Not exactly war paint but the composition is nearly identical chemically which hints onto that, it hasn't been entirely forgotten as it has instead been used for a rather different purpose.

Yet even war paint of sorts has its modern counterpart. And it's modern counterpart if done somewhat incorrectly can get dust into the bloodstream. While inherently dangerous sometimes these botched attempts grant access to greater powers. But first I should probably speak of what this counterpart is. Dust infused tattoos. The dust is ground very finely and mixed into the ink that is used in the tattoo. And much like the war paint it can be simply activated with Aura.

However, tattoos are put directly onto the skin, and lack the protective layer the war paint had included. And the users must rely solely on their Aura to protect them from any ill effects. And in most Kingdoms, save Vacuo and smaller cities outside of the main cities of other kingdoms. It is illegal to have done. Not to say residents cannot have dust-infused tattoos, they simply cannot have them done in-kingdom as the majority believe the risks of having them done alone are reason enough to prevent them being done. However some Hunters are known to seek out these Tattoo shops in order to improve their abilities.

And this is all I could uncover pertaining to dust being applied to one's skin, and most likely in my next report I will refer to something else brought up in the Shirrán manuscript, implementing dust and infusing it into one's body. One of the most dangerous methods of using dust known to man.

 _~ Jefferson Tanner, head of Research and Development at the Schnee Dust Company_

 **Author's Note: I finally made another chapter! Sorry to those of you who liked this. Coming up with explanations and adding places to fit with those explanations takes quite a bit longer than my other story. But anyways thanks for reading.**


End file.
